Ortiz says goodbye as AL wins All-Star Game 4-2

Hosmer, Perez go deep to put AL over the top

SAN DIEGO – The American League held off the National League to win the 2016 MLB All-Star Game 4-2.

Playing in his 10th All-Star Game, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz left the game to a standing ovation in the bottom of the third inning. At 40, Ortiz is leading the majors with a .682 slugging percentage and is second with 72 RBI.

The game, held in Petco Park in San Diego, determined home-field advantage in the 2016 World Series.

The NL squad jumped out to a 1-0 first-inning lead after Kris Bryant from the Chicago Cubs took the first pitch he saw from AL starter Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox deep into the left field seats.

Bryant was part of an all-Cubs infield – joining the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals as the only teams in All-Star history to have the starters at first base (Anthony Rizzo), second base (Ben Zobrist), third base (Bryant) and shortstop (Addison Russell).

The AL came back with three runs in the bottom of the second thanks to homers from Kansas City Royals first baseman and eventual All-Star Game MVP Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez.

In the top of the eighth, the NL loaded the bases on New York Yankees left-hander Andrew Miller, who gave up a one-out single to Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers, a two-out single to Starling Marte of the Pittsburgh Pirates and a walk to Adam Duvall of the Cincinnati Reds. Houston Astros right-hander Will Harris came in and caught St. Louis Cardinals pinch-hitter Aledmys Diaz looking at a called third strike to end the threat, according to USA Today.

Meanwhile, California Angels center fielder Mike Trout extended his All-Star Game first-inning hitting streak after rifling a high fastball from Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants up the middle, making him 6-for-11 lifetime in five all-star games. Trout has hit for the first-inning cycle -- he singled in his first at-bat in 2012, doubled in 2013, tripled in 2014 and slugged a homer last year.

Major League Baseball announced before the game that the annual league batting championships will now be named in honor of Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn (NL) and Rod Carew (AL). Carew, now 70, won seven batting titles with the Minnesota Twins from 1969 to 1978 and had a career .328 batting average. Gwynn, who died two years ago, won eight batting crowns with the San Diego Padres and had a career batting average of .338.